Veteran Kannada Actor Shankar Rao No More

Kannada actor Shankar Rao, who was best known for his comic roles breathed his last at his residence in Bengaluru on Monday (October 18). Reportedly, he was undergoing treatment for age-related ailments for a while now. He was 84.

Rao began his acting career as a theatre artist. He started his own theatre group named Kalakshetra, which turned out to be a huge success. One of his plays, Yara Sakshi garnered immense attention from the audiences and paved the way for more opportunities. The drama was based on British author Agatha Christie's short story The Witness for the Prosecution. The play was transformed into a feature film, which again received appreciation from all quarters.

Shankar Rao went on to share screen space with Kannada superstars including Dwarkish, Lokesh, Upendra, Puneeth Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan. He had also been a part of as many as 100 films. His performance as Boss Balaraju in the comedy serial Papa Pandu was well received. The veteran actor's best films include Dhruva, Siddlingu, Vasmi, and Dhruva among many others.